Fresh off a big win over Missouri, the last thing the Notre Dame basketball team needed was to worry about an injury to star guard Markus Burton. Unfortunately, in the first half of the TCU game, he went down, and it looked plenty serious.
Burton had just scored a bucket to bring the Irish within two points of TCU. He fell under the Irish basket, got to his feet and started to run back down the floor, then grabbed at his leg and motioned to the bench before falling at the free throw line. He grabbed at his knee/lower leg and was in obvious pain.
The Notre Dame basketball star was immediately taken to the locker room while he was very obviously favoring his left leg. He didn't return to the court or the Irish bench for the rest of the first half.
Markus Burton’s injury could reshape Notre Dame’s season
After leading the ACC in scoring as a sophomore with 21.3 points per game, Burton has scored 19.9 points per game as a junior for the 6-3 Irish. He also leads the team in assists with 3.6 and steals with 1.7 per game, and he's also second on the team with 3.1 per contest.
Burton notched his first career double-double on Tuesday night during a much-needed 76-71 win over Missouri.
Just after halftime, Burton returned to the bench wearing a boot. He almost certainly won't be returning to the game for Notre Dame on Friday night. What this means for the rest of the season is still very up in the air.